IUVSTA Procedures Manual

The Triennial Congress

(comprising the International Vacuum Congress and the International Conference on Solid Surfaces )

Protocol for Selecting a Host Nation for the Triennial Congress – IVC/ICSS

General

  1. IUVSTA considers the Triennial Congress as its most important event. The selection of a site follows a procedure in which bids to host the congress are solicited from the member societies, reviewed by the Congress Planning Committee and approved by the Executive Council.
  2. A letter requesting bids from the member societies for the congress to be held at the end of Nth triennium is prepared by the Chair of the Congress Planning Committee and distributed by the Secretary General to the Presidents of the member societies no later than 12 weeks before the penultimate Executive Council Meeting of the (N-2) th triennium; i.e. requests for the 2007 congress were requested prior to ECM-88, which was held in early 2001.

Procedures for Selecting a Host Nation for the IUVSTA Triennial Congress (IVC/ICSS)

  1. Preamble

These guidelines set out the procedures as to how the Bids to host a Congress will be presented, how these Bids will be assessed, and how the final choice will be made.

  1. Definitions
    1. Selection Year: This is the sixth year prior to the year in which the Congress will be held (e.g. 2001 would be the Selection Year for the 2007 Congress).
    2. 1st ECM: This is the first ECM in the Selection Year (usually held about April).
    3. 2nd ECM: This is the second ECM in the Selection Year (usually held about September)
    4. Country: This will refer to the National Vacuum Society of a country which is bidding to host the Congress
  2. Procedures
    1. Bidding.
      1. Countries (National Vacuum Societies) must submit Bids by 31 December of the year preceding the Selection Year. This will be approximately 6 years and 9 months before the Congress.
      2. These Bids will contain full details, consistent with guidelines in the Procedures Manual.
      3. The Bids should also contain the formatted information required for the spreadsheet (see section (b) below).
      4. The Bids will be submitted to the Chair of the Congress Planning Committee (CPC), with a copy to the Secretary General.
      5. The Chair or Secretary of the CPC will then send black and white photocopies of the primary Bid document to all members of the CPC.
      6. Bidding Countries may (and usually will) distribute their full Bid information directly to all CPC members, especially if colour printing, special binding or supporting pamphlets are being used.
      7. Countries may also send relevant information directly to Councillors and/or other National Vacuum Societies.
    2. At the CPC Meeting, in conjunction with 1st ECM.
      1. Prior to this meeting, all CPC members will have received information on all Bids.
      2. Customarily, the CPC Secretary will have prepared and distributed to members, and bidding Country representatives, a spreadsheet collating relevant information for each Bid. Extra copies may be made available to observers at the meeting. Bidding Countries will have been given a template of this spreadsheet and will have supplied the information, in the required format, at the time of making the initial Bid (or soon thereafter).
      3. At the meeting a representative, or representatives, of the Bidding Country will address the meeting to deliver an oral presentation of the bid. The time allocated for this will have been decided in advance and all Bidders notified accordingly. These will not be elaborate presentations.
      4. A important part of this meeting will be to allow the CPC members to ask the Bid presenters for clarification, or more details, of matters included or omitted from the written Bids. Questions from observers to the meeting will be allowed, within reason.
      5. The primary role of the CPC is to confirm whether each Bid fulfils the requirements set by IUVSTA for hosting a Congress.
      6. A second role of the CPC is to specify what additional information they may require each bidder to submit.
      7. The CPC will prepare a Report to be presented at the 1st ECM (usually the next day) which will include:
        1. a statement as to which Countries are bidding to host the Congress and a brief summary of the salient features of each bid,
        2. the additional information which has been sort from the bidding Countries, and
        3. a statement, including justification, as to whether any Bid will not fulfil the requirements for hosting a Congress unless the Country can supply further information to show that the deficiency can be corrected.
        4. The CPC should meet as a committee, without observers or Bid presenters present, whilst the final discussion of the Bids is conducted and the Report is prepared.
    3. At the 1st ECM, during the CPC Report agenda item.
      1. At the invitation of the President or the CPC Chair, a representative of each bidding Country may present a very brief (maximum of 5 minutes) summary of the important features of their Bid.
      2. The CPC Chair will present the CPC Report (described above in (b)).
      3. All Councillors may then discuss the Bids and question, or seek further details from, the bidders and CPC members.
      4. The CPC Chair will then remind Councillors that they will be required to vote on this issue at the next ECM (2nd ECM).
    4. Between 1st and 2nd ECMs.
      1. Immediately following the 1st ECM, the CPC Secretary will write to all bidders requesting the additional information sought by the CPC.
      2. When received, the additional information will be distributed to CPC members [and to all Councillors ?].
      3. The spreadsheet of information will be updated (if necessary) by the CPC Secretary and distributed to all CPC members and Bid presenters.
    5. Bid Presentation Meeting.
      1. A special meeting, called the Bid Presentation Meeting, will be scheduled as part of the program of meetings associated with the 2nd ECM. This meeting may be scheduled as part of the CPC meeting or held separately. If it is part of the CPC meeting, adequate time must be given to this meeting. If it is held separately, it must be scheduled prior to the CPC meeting.
      2. Presentations will be made by each bidding Country. These may include presentations by additional people (scientists, conference organisers, tourist personnel, etc.), slides, etc., may be shown and literature may be distributed. Some time limits must be set by the CPC Chair, and the bidding Countries should have been advised of this in advance.
      3. All Councillors should be advised (usually through the schedule of meetings) of the time and place of this meeting, and it is expected that all interested Councillors will make an attempt to attend.
      4. This meeting will be chaired by the CPC Chair and will be open to all interested personnel.
    6. At the CPC Meeting, in conjunction with 2nd ECM.
      1. If the Bid Presentation Meeting is not combined with this meeting, the CPC Chair may invite a representative of each bidding Country to make a brief (approximately 5 minute) presentation, again only highlighting the important features of the Bid, and emphasising the possible impact of any additional information supplied since the 1st ECM.
      2. The CPC may openly discuss the Bids with the presenters and observers.
      3. The CPC should then continue this discussion as a committee without the Bid representatives or observers present.
      4. The CPC will prepare a Report to be presented at the 2nd ECM (usually the next day) which will include:
        1. a statement as to which Countries have presented Bids,
        2. a statement, including justification, as to whether any Bid does not fulfil the requirements for hosting a Congress, and
        3. a ranking order for the Bids, in which some Bids may be ranked as equal. Justification for the ranking should be given.
    7. At the 2nd ECM, during the CPC Report agenda item.
      1. At the invitation of the President or the CPC Chair, a representative of each bidding Country may present a very brief (maximum of 5 minutes) summary of the important features of their Bid.
      2. The CPC Chair should present the CPC Report and discuss issues as appropriate. If it is proposed that any Bid not be considered in the voting, the reasons for this decision must be given to show that the proposed Congress would be unlikely to be successful or acceptable to IUVSTA. The CPC's recommendations should be made very clear during this report.
      3. General discussion should then be invited.
      4. The President should then clarify the situation with respect to all Bids presented.
      5. The President should then conduct the voting, by secret ballot, excluding any Bids deemed completely unacceptable (with justification) by the CPC, to determine the Country to host the Congress.
      6. If the CPC has made a strong recommendation of one Country as the preferred host, then the President should consider phrasing the motion as "Those in favour of accepting the CPC's recommendation?" In this case it must be made clear that a vote "In favour" would lead to a specified (named) Country being chosen as host. A vote "Against" would leave the matter undecided and further voting, in terms of Countries, would be required.
      7. If the voting is in terms of Countries and if there are more than two eligible Countries, the procedure for voting should be as follows. The Councillors will be advised of the list of eligible Countries and will be required to mark only one Country's name on the secret ballot paper. If any Country receives an overall majority of the votes, that Country will be declared the winner. If there is no Country with an overall majority, the Country receiving the lowest number of votes will be eliminated and the voting procedure will be repeated. This procedure will be continued until one Country receives an overall majority of the votes. In the case of a tied vote, the President will have a casting vote, as specified in the IUVSTA Statutes.
© IUVSTA 2012